The present invention relates generally to a commercial product and a process for making the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process and product manufactured from recycled materials.
The benefits of recycling certain commercial products is well known. For example, the recycling of plastic bottles and aluminum cans has become common place. The recycling of these product protects the environment as well as conserves energy.
However, there are commercial products which are not recycled. One such product is that of the automobile tire. With the increased use of automobiles and other equipment, the amount of tires used and then discarded approaches astronomical levels. In the past years, tires have for example been buried in landfills along with other waste products. In recent years, however, there is has been a need to develop other more environmental friendly process to dispose of scrap tires. In this regard, processes have been developed to incinerate the tires to thereby recover oil compounds from the rubber. Such processes, however, have met with some resistance in that the incineration process itself is not compatible with the environment.
One object of the present invention is to develop a commercial product made from scrap tires and a process for manufacturing the same.
The present invention is a commercial product made from whole tires and plastic material and a process for manufacturing the same. In one embodiment, the product is that of a commercial pallet used for storing and transporting items which is made from a combination of recycled tire shreds and recycled plastic particles. In one embodiment, the pallet comprises a plurality of recycled tire shreds having different surface areas, a plurality of recycled plastic particles having different surface areas, and a bonding agent coated about substantially all of the surfaces of the recycled tire shreds and the recycled plastic particles. In operation, the combination of the recycled tire shreds having different surface areas, the recycled plastic particles having different surface and the bonding agent results in a stronger and durable pallet. The present invention is also a process for manufacturing a pallet from a combination of recycled tire shreds and recycled plastic particles which in one embodiment comprises the steps of creating a mixture of a plurality of different sized recycled tie shreds and a plurality of recycled plastic particles, adding a bonding agent to said mixture to thereby coat all surfaces of the different sized recycled tire shreds and the different sized recycled plastic particles; transferring said mixture after said bonding agent has been added into one or more molds which correspond to the pallet, applying heat and pressure to said mixture within the mold for a predetermined period of time, and curing the mixture after said step of heating and applying pressure.